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Original write date unknown
Posted Thursday, December 07, 17:53
I don't really buy new video games anymore. I occasionally buy old video games, either ones I played in childhood but never had my own copy of, or ones I had a copy of but lost, or damaged, or otherwise had taken away from me. I am still mad about having to re-buy Spore because I owned the CD, but the activation key was tied to an account on a service that, if I recall correctly, stopped existing, so I could no longer install it.
Truth be told, there's nothing egregiously wrong with new video games. Sometimes they do interest me. I'd be willing to play the new Spider-Man game, for example. Except I don't have a device powerful enough to play it, and the amount of money I'd have to spend to get one isn't worth it for one video game. I own Ultimate Spider-Man on the PS2, and while they certainly are not the same game, all I care about is that I get to swing around and beat people up. As far as I'm concerned, the PS2 game does a good job of filling that role, and I don't find myself wanting another Spider-Man game. Sure, there might be other modern-day games I'd be interested in, and maybe there's enough of them to make buying a beefier computer or a PS5 worth it, but I don't care to put in the effort to find them.
This isn't some decision I've made - I never sat down and said "I will stop buying video games" - and I don't think new video games are bad, or anything like that. I just... stopped wanting, at some point. Between my PS2, my PS3 (which is still the newest console I own), my PC games that I bought through Itch and GOG, and my Steam library, I probably own somewhere in the range of 200 games. For me, that's enough. I don't want anymore, because I would be happy playing only the games I already own for the rest of my life. If they stopped making video games tomorrow, I wouldn't really be upset about it. That'll probably change at some point. My PS3 isn't nearly as resilient as my PS2 - I've already had to take it apart because the disc tray wouldn't accept discs - and eventually it will kick the bucket. I'm convinced I could hit my PS2 with a rocket launcher and that thing would keep chugging, but even it can't last as long as my body will.
Eventually, a significant portion of my video game library will become unplayable due to sheer age, and not all of it will have PC ports on GOG. When that happens, I'll probably be interested in buying video games again. I also do not discount the possibility that something new comes out that is so captivating that I find myself pining for it. Like I said, this isn't some decision to renounce buying new things, and I don't think modern video games are bad. I just think I own so many games that I'm already interested in playing and replaying in the years to come that for now, my library feels complete.
I used to have major FOMO when it comes to video games. I always wanted to buy the new thing, even if it wasn't a game I actually wanted, because that's what all my friends were playing, and I was worried that if I didn't play the hot new thing, they'd go without me. I guess part of growing up is not caring about that kind of thing anymore. I don't want to buy new games because they're new. I want to play new or old games because they are good and fun to play, and I think I own as many good and fun games as I could possibly want. For now, my library is complete - no new additions are necessary.